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Join the Fitocracy
So I've been using this thing called Fitocracy for a while now, and given the lack of a PSB group on there and the lack of mentions here, I'm guessing it hasn't made the PSB news yet.Originally Posted by fitocracy
Essentially, it's an exercise log aimed at gamers/geeks. Often described as the fitness equivalent of Warcraft. You log your your workouts, be it weights, body-weight exercises, running, walking, martial arts, sports, swimming, dancing, even taking the stairs in lieu of the lift (they have a damn impressive database), and you are awarded a certain number of 'experience' points. Get to a certain number of points and you level up. There are also 'quests' consisting of certain combinations of exercises, often centered around a theme (even a Pokemon one!), and achievements for things like dead-lifting 0.9, 1.3, 1.6 times body weight. Obviously it relies on honesty. It would be easy to enter things you haven't actually done, but that kind of takes away the point of it. I haven't noticed any obvious cheaters yet. It can also link in with runkeeper, and pick up your runs/rides from there (new ones only), so you don't have to enter them twice, although you still have to log into Fitocracy and confirm them.
There is no tangible reward for points/levels/quests/achievements other than the motivation to get more, similar to warcraft. It's all about leveling up your strength or fitness. I'm finding it to be a fantastic tool to keep me motivated to continue losing weight.
There is also a social networking side to it. There's a 'feed' similar to facebook where you see recent workouts and (usually) fitness related 'statuses' from people you are following (friends). People can give props (similar to facebook's 'like'), and comment on things. You can join and create groups for people of common interest. I'm currently in groups for Perth, Rugby, OCAU and Taekwondo. Add to that a forum that includes discussions on everything fitness and nutrition related, run by people who seem to really know what they're talking about. They also highlight some big achievers for you to follow. People who have lost amazing amounts of weight or are bench-pressing dump trucks.
It's still in beta, but I think they've opened it up to everyone now. You should be able to go to the homepage (link at the top of the post) and enter your email address to request an invite. If that doesn't work, I've got a few invites I can hand out, then ideally they hand out more invites etc. It's free, but has a supporter option not unlike PSB. Paying members can earn different titles, copy other people's workouts with one click, and get access to a special area on the forum where they occasionally get experts in to answer questions. There are a few other benefits that escape my mind right now.
Post up your username if you decide to try it (I'm NanoBear). If there's a few of us maybe we can make a PSB group. I don't think groups do all that much, but they are a way of linking people with common interests, and you can set challenges for the group, which at the moment are only 'who can get the most points in x days'
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